Mrs. Fiske Warren (Gretchen Osgood) and Her Daughter Rachel

Lower left: John S. Sargent 1903
Gift of Mrs. Rachel Warren Barton and Emily L. Ainsley Fund

Along with his sitters, Sargent’s free, confident, and expert technique is on display: note the silvery brushstrokes on Mrs. Warren’s dress and the thick slash of white, tinged with green, on the arm of the chair. The portrait’s imposing size, the Renaissance furniture, and Mrs. Warren’s formal pose evoke aristocratic portraits of the past. At the same time, Sargent’s loose painterly style is very modern. Read more...